US:DEMOCRATS HAVE hailed Barack Obama's speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in Denver as a turning point in the campaign and a warning to John McCain that the Democratic candidate will react to Republican attacks, reports Denis Stauntonin Denver
Mr Obama spoke before more than 80,000 people at Denver's Mile High stadium at the end of a five-hour programme that featured music by Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow and will.i.am and speeches by political supporters, including former vice-president Al Gore.
During his 45-minute speech, Mr Obama answered all the main Republican charges against him, including his lack of experience and suggested that electing John McCain would be to usher in a third term for the policies of President George Bush.
"Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush was right more than 90 per cent of the time?" he said.
Mr Obama's presentation, which was preceded by a biographical video stressing his commitment to American values, received a rapturous response from the flag-waving crowd, many of whom had queued for more than two hours to enter the stadium.
He began by setting out the challenges faced by the US, including a struggling economy, growing inequality and a dependence on foreign oil.
"These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W Bush," he said.
"America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this."
He accused Mr McCain of remaining tethered to a conservative ideology that failed to address the problems faced by ordinary Americans and of being out of touch with their concerns.
"It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it," he said.
"For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own."
Mr Obama, who has faced criticism for being vague about policy specifics and of relying on soaring rhetoric rather than offering practical solutions, sought last night to spell out what his presidency would achieve.
He promised to end tax breaks for companies that move jobs offshore, to end US reliance on oil from the Middle East within 10 years and to introduce universal healthcare.
"Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work," he said.
"That's the promise of America, the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper."
In response to claims that, after less than one term as a US senator, he lacks the experience needed to lead his country, Mr Obama said he represented an urge for change that was spreading through the US.
"I realise that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington," he said.
"But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you."
Mr Gore compared Mr Obama to Abraham Lincoln, another relatively inexperienced candidate from Illinois who became his country's greatest president.
"The experience Lincoln's supporters valued most in that race was his powerful ability to inspire hope in the future at a time of impasse," Mr Gore said.
"He was known chiefly as a clear thinker and a great orator, with a passion for justice and a determination to heal the deep divisions of our land. He insisted on reaching past partisan and regional divides to exalt our common humanity. In 2008, once again, we find ourselves at the end of an era with a mandate from history to launch another new beginning. And once again, we have a candidate whose experience perfectly matches an extraordinary moment of transition."
Mr Obama's speech was delivered on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and Dr King's daughter Bernice said the event in Denver was "one of the defining moments" in American history.
"Tonight, we witness in part what has become of his dream, the acceptance of a Democratic presidential nominee, decided not by the colour of his skin, but by the content of his character," she said.